Bench



L. C. UPTON Dec. 6, 1938.

BENQH Filed April 15, 1956 ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 6, 1938 Louis C. Upton, St. Joseph,;.Mich., assignor, to Nineteen Hundred Orporation,j'Binghamton,

.N. Y., a corporation of New .Yprk

ApplicationApril 15, .1936, ;Serial,,No. 74,445

2 Claims. (Cl. 155 151) Wreadily.foldedinto aconcealed, inoperative position when the cover is applied to the machine and smay ble.rendered. operative.whenthecoveris to be "used as abench.

1....Anhobject 0f.,the invention has been to pro-j Mvide, an. ..inexpcn. ive,sturdy construction of the haracter specified inw hthe co is alla of being readily employed for its dual purposes.

,..Othe,r objects features and. advantages of the invention will appear from the detailed description of one form of the same which will now be given in conjunction with the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an ironing ma chine embodying the invention, with the cover removed and serving as a bench, the position of the cover on the machine being indicated in dot and dash lines.

Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section through one end of the cover adjacent one wall, and

Fig. 3 is a transverse section along the line 3-3 of Figure 2.

Referring now to the drawing, the ironing machine is illustrated as comprising a main frame having a table portion l0 and a pair of pedestal or leg portions II and I2. At one end of the table portion l0 there is mounted a gear case or housing I3 arranged to rotatably support a padded roller I4. An ironing shoe I5 is also supported by the case I3 and is arranged to be shifted toward and away from the roller to render the shoe efiective or inefiective, as desired. The devices within the gear case I 3 for causing rotation of the roller [4 and movement of the shoe l5 may be of any suitable construction and have not been shown since they form no part of the present invention.

For the purpose of concealing the roller, shoe and other operating devices, a cover I6 is provided, this being normally carried by a small shoulder provided along each of the edges of the table portion l0. When the cover is applied to the main frame, as indicated in dot and. dash lines (Fig. 1), it produces an attractive cabinet effeet and conceals the various operating devices.

, In thepreferred construction there is no perma- .nent connectionbetweenthe cover and the main jf'rame sothat the .cover, may bereadilylifted and removed from the. machine whenever desired.

The construction of the cover maybe of any 5 of a variety orforms. As illustrated, it may be in the nature of a box-like enclosure; open on only one side and may consist of a frontjsection H, a

backflsection I8, and a middle section I9. The

(front and, baclg sections -may be formed with outwardlyprojecting flanges 2U extendingaround' three sides of a rectangle while the member l9 may beprovided withinwardly turned cooperating flanges 2 I-, which may, conveniently, be united w ht tflan e Z" yrwel t like-y If desired, the three sections might be formed as one integral member. I Io wever, the construction illustrated is relatively inexpensive and at the ,same time offers the desired sturdiness which enables the "use "of the cover as a bench. At the ends of the cover the center section [9 may be provided with suitable handle projections 22 to enable the cover to be readily removed from and applied to the machine.

Within the cover there is preferably provided, adjacent each end, a bracket including a cross member 23 suitably secured, as by welding, to the top portions of the sections l1 and I8. A pair of rearwordly and downwardly extending arms 24 is provided on each of the brackets, the lower portions of these arms being further bent, as indicated at 25, and welded or otherwise secured to the end portions of the sections l1 and I8. These arm portions of the brackets serve to strengthen the upper corners of the cover to a certain extent and the brackets as a Whole provide appropriate support for the devices to be described. The ends of the cross member 23 of each bracket are bent downwardly, as indicated at 26, to form a suitable support for pivot pins 21. These pivot pins form the means of at-- tachment of bails 28, one of which is provided at each end of the cover. These bails may suitably be produced from round rod stock bent to provide a pair of arms and a cross member. The ends of the arms are preferably flattened or otherwise formed to provide suitable portions to receive the pivot pins 21. A series of springs 29 are provided one end of each being connected with a pin extending from one of the arms and the bails 28 while the other end of each spring is connected with an car 30 extending inwardly from one of the arms 24 of the bracket member. The location of the cars 30 and the pivots 21 is such that the springs 29 tend to swing the bails 28 to either side of a dead center position. When the bails are swung into the full-line position, indicated in all of the views, their arms will be held against the end portions of the sections [1 and I8 of the cover. In this position of the bails they provide suitable legs for supporting the cover from the ground when it is to be used as a bench. These legs are of appropriate length to place the top of the cover at the correct location to serve as a seat for the .average user of the machine. It will be observed that the load imparted to the bails 28 when a person sits on the cover is largely longitudinal of the arms. A slight outward thrust is produced at the point of contact between the arms of the bail and the ends of the cover but the cover is sufficiently strong to resist this thrust. Preferably the lower edges of the cover sections I1 and I8 will be folded back upon themselves to a slight extent and thereby strengthen the cover as well as eliminate any possible roughness of the lower edge. It will be noted that the flanges 20 and 2| serve to stiffen the top and ends of the cover and thus enable its use as a bench without injury.

When it is desired to apply the cover to the machine, it is simply necessary to swing the bails 28 about their pivots 21 past their dead center positions and the springs 29 will then swing them into the dot and dash position indicated in Figure 2. In this position they are above or otherwise out of the plane of the operating devices of the machine and therefore enable application of the cover to the main frame in the manner indicated by the dot and dash lines in Figure 1. Whenever it is desired to use the cover as a bench again, the bails 28 may be readily swung downwardly past their dead center positions so that the springs 29 may throw them into the full-line positions indicated.

While an illustrative form of the invention has been disclosed in considerable detail, it will be understood that numerous modifications may be made without departing from the principles and scope of the invention. Springs 29 might, for example be omitted and sufficient friction created between the bails and their supports to retain the bails in either of the positions indicated, or simple latches might be used toretain the bails in one or both positions. The terms and expressions employed herein have been used simply as terms of description and not of limitation.

What I claim is:

l. A bench comprising, a seat, flanges at right angles thereto and depending therefrom at each end thereof, a pair of bails pivotally attached at each end of said seat, the pivots of said bails being arranged on the underside of said seat and adjacent but in spaced relation to the end flanges thereof, said bails being shiftable into a position parallel with said seat and to a position to protrude downwardly beyond the lower edges of said flanges to form legs, the bails in said last mentioned position being directed outwardly from their pivots toward said flanges and engaging the lower edges thereof, the length of said legs above said point of engagement being sufficient to brace said legs against further outward movement and means for urging said bails to either of said positions.

2. A bench as defined in claim 1 in which the seat and flanges are formed of sheet metal integral with each other, and means connecting the lower portions of said flanges together for resisting outward thrust of the bails thereon.

LOUIS C. UPTON. 

